There's no unanimity of opinion among SEO guys and gals about link-building and attracting traffic with social Question & Answers Sites – some claim it's a brilliant opportunity, others say it's a waste of time. The truth is, as always, in between – a positive impact of Q&A on your SEO at large depends on the way you do it. The major Q&A service that comes to our minds first is Yahoo! Answers. In this post we shall give some practical guidance to contributing expertly to Yahoo! Answers and provide a list of other question and answer services worth trying out for boosting your SEO.

1. For a start, spend at least 5 hours per week answering questions to build up your Yahoo! Answers score and gain recognition as an expert in your field. Later on estimate your conversion rates from Yahoo! Answers, and decide on the time you can afford to spend there.

2. While browsing Yahoo! Answers, analyze what makes particular answers chosen as best ones in your niche. Also monitor Google Discussions to see what kind of questions rank high for your keywords. This will give you an idea of what questions to target and how not to lag behind other contributors when answering.

3. Shoot for a highly ranked profile featuring best answers: be picky about the questions and orderly about the way you answer.

4. Choose questions that are interesting and related to your niche. Avoid spamy one-liners from level 1 accounts like "who is the best web designer in India?/what is off page seo?/why some people like dogs more than human beings?" – they will most likely be deleted.

5. Pick questions with the least number of answers (sort by fewest answers) – this will increase the chances of your answer to be chosen as the best one.

6. Use appropriate language, grammar and formatting – be professional when you answer.

7. If you feel you're not savvy enough to answer a question, do research to provide an answer that brings value.

When contributing to social Q&A websites think beyond SEO, think internet marketing. You can not only build links and increase traffic, but also raise your brand awareness, reach new communities and become known as an expert in your niche.

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